Immersion - Final Museum/Swimming Pool piece analysis
It might be Christmas, but I have a little college work I need to finish - my blog post analysing my stage 1 final piece. We have already been provided with our stage 2 briefs, so my mind is running away with ideas for next term - I have already made my selection and completed my mind map, so I need to get stage 1 completed while it is still fresh in my memory.
On Tuesday, I finally finished my Swimming Pool piece and named it "Immersion" to reflect the subjects obvious immersion in the water and her immersion in her own thoughts as she swims:
Looking back to the start, I am quite proud of the fact that I approached Heronhurst to see if they could provide glass, and that I took the opportunity to join my friend Rhian in the pool at one of her weekly dive-club meetings and use her underwater camera equipment to obtain original primary source images to work from. As the individual swimmers in Thomas Rathmells Swimming Pool had been my inspiration rather than the overall piece, I wanted to create images of an individual swimmer. I also asked her to wear a bright red or pink swimming costume to create a contrast with the blue water - it would have been a pretty dull image had she worn blue!
Painting on glass required research into different approaches and methods - see previous blogposts about my research into the work of Samantha French, Scout Cuomo, Carol Bennet, Ana Teresa Fernandez, Ivy Smith, Torawo Nakagawa, Jess Hurley-Scott, Richard Rowan, Em Cooper & Caroline Leaf.
The main technical difficulty was that the images had to be reversed as I had to paint on the inside side of the glass to protect the painting. As such, I had to choose my composition carefully and reverse it so that when I turned the glass, it would be the right way around.
Safety had to be a major consideration throughout the project - working with glass is always a concern. I asked a friend to separate the panels in his workshop, using professional tools and equipment, ensuring this was done safely. The edges of the glass were kept covered with special blue tape to prevent cuts right up until the last 10 mins when the panels were glued into the frame with clear silicon. Clear silicon had to be used to ensure that the panels were glued in very firmly and wouldn't fall out! The frame was made by the woodwork department to my specific instructions, and is millimetre perfect.
It has pretty much gone to plan - the only deviations from the original plan and research is that I used acrylics instead of oils. I experimented with oil paints, acrylic and glass paints on sheets of acetate before starting on my main piece. Oils took too long to dry - after 5 days it was still wet and whilst glass paints would have been more transparent and let more light in, they dried too quickly and were too permanent - couldn't etch tile lines in afterwards. Acrylics dried within 10 mins, but it was still possible to scratch off the lines for the tiles effectively and blend the different shades of light and shadowy water, so I went with acrylics. Other mediums such as oil pastels or watercolours or ink simply wouldn't be suitable for use on a glass surface as they wouldn't stick. I would like to persevere with the oil painting on glass, but on another project to create an animated swimming sequence. The properties of oil that make it unsuitable for this project make it eminently suitable for animation as I would be able to manipulate the piece without fear of it drying.
There are things I'm not happy with - one fear that was realised is that it's a bit dark. The frame casts quite a heavy shadow, so the back panel, panel 1, is quite murky. I tried lighting from behind, but the acrylic paint is too opaque for any light to shine through. If I had the chance to do it again, I would either make the cream colour of the walls lighter, use free standing panels of smooth edged safety glass in a stand rather than a frame, or find a way of including lighting inside the frame.
There are some things that I am unexpectedly delighted with - I was worried that the length of the units would look weird - they are quite shallow and long, but I love the fact that the finished piece is the size and shape of a fish tank! It would sit nicely in a room on a shelf or sideboard where a fish tank would normally go.
I love the depth that I have achieved with the layers of the glass. It was intended, with an inch between each layer, but the overall effect has exceeded my expectations.
I think the image that I have created has been successful - I do get the sense of space and calm of the water around the edges, disrupted by the energy and noise of the swimmer in the centre. I am glad I asked Rhian to wear a red or pink swimsuit to add a splash of colour and that I included the red life saver - the little splashes of contrasting colour really lifts the piece. I am happy with the contrast between the perfectly straight lines of tiles out of the water compared with the twisted, distorted lines of tiles under the water. I like the balance between the flat, rippled and turbulent water, light and shade, expressive and controlled marks.
I did experiment with including words in the image to make sure my intended meaning was clear, but after doing some experiments I decided to drop this idea.
I also tried hiding words in the white lines of the reflections on layer 3, but they were either too obvious or too subtle. I think the final image feels clear enough in it's meaning and intent without any prompts, and the wording only detracted from the image.
The final problem I had was trying to photograph the piece! It proved almost impossible with the reflections of 3 layers of glass - we tried moving it all around the studio and outside all to no avail! I eventually found this clip on youtube & surrounded the whole piece with black card, cutting a small hole for my camera lens to fit through & finally achieved an almost reflection-free image.
How to photograph glass without reflection
It has now been sent off to Newport Museum with everyone elses final pieces for selection. Only 20 pieces will be selected. The technical risk I have taken by making something like this rather than creating a standard painting on paper or canvas may help or hinder me - I'm not sure which! On one hand it stands out from the crowd, on the other hand it would be very awkward to display in a museum - it's too heavy and bulky to hang on a wall so will either need a sturdy shelf or plinth to be displayed on. Time will tell.
Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year to you all, I will have a new blog post in the new year relating to my new Stage 2 brief "24"...watch this space! (if I can wait that long - I am very excited about it!)
On Tuesday, I finally finished my Swimming Pool piece and named it "Immersion" to reflect the subjects obvious immersion in the water and her immersion in her own thoughts as she swims:
Looking back to the start, I am quite proud of the fact that I approached Heronhurst to see if they could provide glass, and that I took the opportunity to join my friend Rhian in the pool at one of her weekly dive-club meetings and use her underwater camera equipment to obtain original primary source images to work from. As the individual swimmers in Thomas Rathmells Swimming Pool had been my inspiration rather than the overall piece, I wanted to create images of an individual swimmer. I also asked her to wear a bright red or pink swimming costume to create a contrast with the blue water - it would have been a pretty dull image had she worn blue!
Painting on glass required research into different approaches and methods - see previous blogposts about my research into the work of Samantha French, Scout Cuomo, Carol Bennet, Ana Teresa Fernandez, Ivy Smith, Torawo Nakagawa, Jess Hurley-Scott, Richard Rowan, Em Cooper & Caroline Leaf.
The main technical difficulty was that the images had to be reversed as I had to paint on the inside side of the glass to protect the painting. As such, I had to choose my composition carefully and reverse it so that when I turned the glass, it would be the right way around.
Safety had to be a major consideration throughout the project - working with glass is always a concern. I asked a friend to separate the panels in his workshop, using professional tools and equipment, ensuring this was done safely. The edges of the glass were kept covered with special blue tape to prevent cuts right up until the last 10 mins when the panels were glued into the frame with clear silicon. Clear silicon had to be used to ensure that the panels were glued in very firmly and wouldn't fall out! The frame was made by the woodwork department to my specific instructions, and is millimetre perfect.
It has pretty much gone to plan - the only deviations from the original plan and research is that I used acrylics instead of oils. I experimented with oil paints, acrylic and glass paints on sheets of acetate before starting on my main piece. Oils took too long to dry - after 5 days it was still wet and whilst glass paints would have been more transparent and let more light in, they dried too quickly and were too permanent - couldn't etch tile lines in afterwards. Acrylics dried within 10 mins, but it was still possible to scratch off the lines for the tiles effectively and blend the different shades of light and shadowy water, so I went with acrylics. Other mediums such as oil pastels or watercolours or ink simply wouldn't be suitable for use on a glass surface as they wouldn't stick. I would like to persevere with the oil painting on glass, but on another project to create an animated swimming sequence. The properties of oil that make it unsuitable for this project make it eminently suitable for animation as I would be able to manipulate the piece without fear of it drying.
There are things I'm not happy with - one fear that was realised is that it's a bit dark. The frame casts quite a heavy shadow, so the back panel, panel 1, is quite murky. I tried lighting from behind, but the acrylic paint is too opaque for any light to shine through. If I had the chance to do it again, I would either make the cream colour of the walls lighter, use free standing panels of smooth edged safety glass in a stand rather than a frame, or find a way of including lighting inside the frame.
There are some things that I am unexpectedly delighted with - I was worried that the length of the units would look weird - they are quite shallow and long, but I love the fact that the finished piece is the size and shape of a fish tank! It would sit nicely in a room on a shelf or sideboard where a fish tank would normally go.
I love the depth that I have achieved with the layers of the glass. It was intended, with an inch between each layer, but the overall effect has exceeded my expectations.
I think the image that I have created has been successful - I do get the sense of space and calm of the water around the edges, disrupted by the energy and noise of the swimmer in the centre. I am glad I asked Rhian to wear a red or pink swimsuit to add a splash of colour and that I included the red life saver - the little splashes of contrasting colour really lifts the piece. I am happy with the contrast between the perfectly straight lines of tiles out of the water compared with the twisted, distorted lines of tiles under the water. I like the balance between the flat, rippled and turbulent water, light and shade, expressive and controlled marks.
I did experiment with including words in the image to make sure my intended meaning was clear, but after doing some experiments I decided to drop this idea.
I also tried hiding words in the white lines of the reflections on layer 3, but they were either too obvious or too subtle. I think the final image feels clear enough in it's meaning and intent without any prompts, and the wording only detracted from the image.
The final problem I had was trying to photograph the piece! It proved almost impossible with the reflections of 3 layers of glass - we tried moving it all around the studio and outside all to no avail! I eventually found this clip on youtube & surrounded the whole piece with black card, cutting a small hole for my camera lens to fit through & finally achieved an almost reflection-free image.
How to photograph glass without reflection
It has now been sent off to Newport Museum with everyone elses final pieces for selection. Only 20 pieces will be selected. The technical risk I have taken by making something like this rather than creating a standard painting on paper or canvas may help or hinder me - I'm not sure which! On one hand it stands out from the crowd, on the other hand it would be very awkward to display in a museum - it's too heavy and bulky to hang on a wall so will either need a sturdy shelf or plinth to be displayed on. Time will tell.
Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year to you all, I will have a new blog post in the new year relating to my new Stage 2 brief "24"...watch this space! (if I can wait that long - I am very excited about it!)
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